Combined door check and closer



June 3, 1947.

BROWN COMBINED DOOR CHECK AND CLOSER Filed May 12, 1945 {3 JiaroZcZ Brown QW wh Nb Patented June 3, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT orricr.

COMBINED DOOR CHECK AND CLOSER Harold Brown, Denver, Colo.

Application May 12, 1945, Serial No. 593,380

one of which is weaker than the other and compressed by the piston head as the door is being opened, while the other stretches and permits the door to continue to open to a certain degree after the piston head reaches the end of its forward movement, both springs coacting to check and close the door when the latter is released by the operator.

Other features will hereinafter appear, and in order that the invention may be fully understood reference will now be had to the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the device con nected at one end to a door and at its opposite end to the door casing.

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the device with a modified form of bracket.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the cylinder.

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the piston head.

Referring in detail to the diiierent parts, 2 designates the cylinder which is provided at its rear end with an air port 4 controlled by a valve 5. The forward end of the cylinder is closed with a removable cap '8 provided with a reduced forwardly extending tubular portion 10.

The piston head l2 comprises a leather or other flexible cup-shaped member having one or more air ports [4 extending transversely therethrough. The piston head I2 is interposed between a washer l6 and the convex surface of a concavoconvex disk [8, the latter of which is arranged in front of the piston head to control the air ports I4, as will hereinafter appear. The piston head 12, Washer l6 and disk l8 have central registering openings to receive a member 20 which is threaded into a member 22. A conical spring 24 is interposed between the disk is and cap 8 to move the piston head backward after the door has been opened and released.

The piston rod comprises an inner element 25 and an outer element 2-8, which latter is telescopically mounted upon the former. The rear end of the inner element 26 is threaded in the axial bore of member .22 and its forward end is provided with a circumferential flange 35 which coacts with an internal flange 32 at the rear end 2 of element 28 in limiting extension of the piston rod.

The outer element 28 extends forward through the tubular portion ll] of cap 8 and is threaded upon a member 34 having a grooved periphery to receive the convolutions at the forward portion of a coil spring 35, the rear end of which is connected to the member 22. The member '34 is threaded upon a member preferably in the form of a screw eye 31 connected at its outer end to an eye 58 projecting from the door A.

The forward end of the member 34 is provided with an ornamental cap 40 which overlaps the forward end of the coil spring 36 and has a reduced forward portion 42 of angular form to snugly fit upon the correspondingly shaped reduced forward endof member 34, so that it may be rotated upon the screw eye 31 by a wrench to tension the coil spring 36. A jamb nut 44 is threaded upon the screw eye 31 for engagement with the forward end of the member 34 to prevent accidental turning thereof upon the screw eye.

The rear end of the cylinder 2 is connected by suitable means to the door casing B. In Fig. 1, I have shown such means in the form of a bracket 45 and a link 48 pivoted at its respective ends to the bracket 45 and a pair of lugs 50, which latter are fixed to the rear end of the cylinder.

Fig. 2 discloses another form of means for connecting the cylinder to the door casing, in which a coil spring 52 is employed to coact with the springs 24 and 3-6 in closing the door. The upper end of the spring 52 is secured to a tubular bracket 54 and its lower end to a crank 56 extending outward through a slot 58 in the bracket 54 and pivotally connected to the lugs '55. The crank 58 is fixed to the lower end of a vertical shaft 50 which is journaled in the bracket 54 and threaded or otherwise secured at its upper end to a disk 62 freely mounted in the recessed portion 64 of the bracket, which latter is: provided at its lower end with a removable cap 65 to permit assembly of the partstherein.

Operation.When the door is being opened the spring 35, which is stronger than spring 24, moves forward with the piston rod and pulls the piston head [2 therewith, thus compressing spring 24. During the first part of the movement spring .36 is stretched Very little, but the resistance of spring 24 increases until the piston rod element 28 moves faster than the element -25 and thus stretches spring 35 to an appreciable extent. After the piston head reaches the forward end of its movement opening of the door may con 3 tinue due to the stretching of spring 36 until the door is either released by the operator or forward movement of element 28 is checked by the flange 32 contacting flange 30. When the dOOr is re leased by the operator the spring 24 moves the piston head backward to close the door, which operation is assisted by contraction of the spring 36.

During backward movement of the piston head the air pressure against the same flexes it against the disk l8 which closes the ports H3 and thus entraps the air between the piston head and the rear end of cylinder 2. The entrapped air escapes slowly through port 4, but retards backward movement of the piston head sufiiciently to prevent the spring 24 and 36 from slamming the door against the usual stops on the door casing B. The spring 52, which is tensioned by opening of the door, coacts with the springs 24 and 33 in closing the door. If the door is equipped with a lock having the customary spring latch a portion of the air entrapped between the piston and the rear end of the cylinder is permitted to escape into the forward portion of cylinder 2 through a bypass 10 before the piston reaches the end of its backward movement. This reduces the pressure on the piston head and permits acceleration thereof suificiently to overcome the spring latch and completely close the door. If the door is of the swinging type without aspring latch the bypass 19 maybe dispensed with. V

From the foregoing description it is apparent that I have provided a door check and closer well adapted to perform the functions set forth, it is obvious that various changes in form, pro- 4 portion and in the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of, or sacrificing any of the principles of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A device for checking and closing a door comprising a cylinder having an opening in its front end, means for connecting the rear: end of said cylinder to" the door casing, a piston rod reciprocably mounted in the cylinder and projecting through the opening in the front end'of the cylinder, means for connecting the outer end of the piston rod to the door, a concavoconvex disk secur'ed to the rear portion of said piston rod and positioned with its convex surface to the rear, a flexible piston head secured to the piston rod and provided with one or more air ports adapted to be closed by flexing of the piston head against the convex surface of the disk on each backward stroke of saidlfpiston head, a washer secured to the piston rod and abutting the rear surface of the piston head, and spring means interposed between the concave surface of the disk and the front end of the cylinder. 4

HAROLD BROWN REFERENCES CITED The following referencesare ofrecord in the file of this patent: l

STATES PA'I'EN'TS- Number Name Date 625,962 Beauregard May 13:99 1,334,081 Qofiman l Mar. 16, 19:20 565,377 Brunthaver Aug i, 139 1,254,245 Lehmann Jan. 22, 1-918 

